This Cheesy Broccoli Rice Vegan Casserole is the ultimate comfort food! It combines vegan chicken (or chickpeas) with rice, broccoli, and dairy-free cheese in one skillet and is ready to eat in just 30 minutes.
Looking for more easy-to-make vegan casseroles? The whole family will love my Vegan Enchilada Casserole, Vegan Baked Mac and Chees, and Vegan Tater Tot Casserole!
Kid-approved vegan casserole
My favorite thing about this casserole recipe is how easy and fast it is to make. Even on the busiest nights, I can whip this family friendly meal up in no time. Everything cooks together in the same skillet in about 30 minutes, saving you a ton of time on prep and cleanup!
I turn to this quick and easy vegan casserole recipe when the kids and I are craving the goodness of broccoli and cheese but need something quicker than my Vegan Broccoli Cheese Soup or Vegan Cheesy Broccoli Twice Baked Potatoes. We rarely leave leftovers behind, making it safe to claim this recipe as kid-friendly and picky eater-approved!
Make your own cheese sauce (or not)
If you want to skip the store bought vegan cheese, make your own! My Favorite Cashew Cheese Sauce would be incredible in this recipe. For nut free, make my Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce.
My readers have also been loving this weeknight dish for years. Here’s what they’re saying:
“I just made this last night for my fussy vegan kids. One hates broccoli and the other hates mock meat. Both asked for seconds and cleaned their plates!!!! Cant wait to try more of your recipies, you are a life saver!!!!!” – Chen
“Yummy recipe! My non-vegan dad even liked it. Will definitely be making this again. 🙂” – Bella
“Seriously the best chicken rice casserole ever. Our toddler loved it. Definitely going to make this again and again.” – Anna
Why you’ll love this vegan broccoli rice casserole
- An easy one-skillet recipe – Everything from the vegan chicken to the rice to the broccoli is cooked in one skillet on the stove.
- Kid-approved – Believe it or not, kids don’t mind eating broccoli when it’s baked in this casserole. They’re too busy enjoying the cheesy, meaty bites!
- You’d never know it’s vegan – Despite being completely dairy and meat-free, this hearty vegan casserole is super indulgent and meaty! Even the pickiest eaters will love it.
Frequently asked questions
Make this cheesy casserole the star of your next easy family dinner! It’s a hearty and filling main dish you can pair with simple sides, like my Kale Caesar Salad, Vegan Garlic Bread, and Air Fryer Asparagus. The kids won’t be able to resist these Eggless Brownies or this Apple and Blueberry Crumble for dessert, either!
Alternatively, make the casserole for weekday lunches you’ll actually look forward to. The individual portions last for a few days in the fridge or even longer in the freezer.
I like using my Seitan Chicken (cut into small pieces) best, but I don’t often have the time to make it. You could also use a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, soy curls (soaked in vegan chicken broth or vegetable broth ahead of time), or store-bought vegan chicken (I like the Daring brand, but readers have also had good results using Tofurky, Gardein, LiteLife, and Sweet Earth brands).
Absolutely! For a true baked casserole, cook the “chicken” and garlic as normal and dump them into a lightly greased glass casserole dish along with the rice, vegetable broth, vegan cream, and broccoli florets. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350ºF for 20 to 25 minutes.
Stir 1 cup of the vegan cheese into the casserole and sprinkle the rest on top. Continue baking, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the rice and broccoli are tender.
Yes, you can make the casserole ahead of time. Wait for it to cool to room temperature before transferring the whole batch or single servings to airtight containers. Keep them in the fridge for 2 or 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
After the leftover casserole has cooled to room temperature, transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze the leftovers for about 1 month. Allow the leftovers to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating in a 350ºF oven the next day.
Cheesy Broccoli Rice Vegan Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces vegan chicken chopped, see Notes
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice rinsed
- 3 cups vegetable broth + more as needed
- 1 1/2 cups vegan cream see Notes
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups vegan shredded cheddar cheese or homemade cheese sauce
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the vegan chicken pieces for 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the rice, vegetable broth and vegan cream. Stir and bring to a boil, then cover, lower the heat and simmer for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes, add the broccoli and stir it in. If the mixture doesn't have any liquid left, add about 1 cup more of broth (or even water). Cover and simmer for 8 minutes.
- Uncover and add 1 cup of the cheese and stir it in, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Cover and simmer until the cheese on top has melted and the broccoli is tender.
- Taste, and if needed add a bit of salt. I don't find it needs any added with the broth and salt from the cheese. Enjoy immediately.
Notes
- Vegan Chicken – You can use my homemade seitan Vegan Chicken (you will only need about 1/2 the recipe), store bought vegan chicken (I love Daring brand!) or a can of rinsed and drained chickpeas.
- To sub brown rice for white: It will take a lot longer to cook the rice, about 40 minutes. Add more vegetable broth or water as needed, you will probably need 4-5 cups of broth.
- For the cream – I like Ripple’s Half and Half for cream. You can also use full fat coconut milk, almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk or homemade cashew cream.
- Cheese – I used Follow Your Heart cheddar. If you want to make your own vegan cheese sauce, I love my Favorite Cashew Cheese Sauce or Nut Free Vegan Cheese.
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Leftovers – Leftovers will keep in a covered container in the fridge for 4 days. It can also be frozen.
Nutrition
*This recipe was first published in March 2020 and has been updated in 2024 with new photos and an easier recipe.
Amazing!! Even my picky eaters loved this. I used Gardein faux chicken scallopini and browned it with the garlic and shallots. Scraped the pan and then added everything else. I used light coconut milk and it was so delicious!!
Awesome! I really love a meal that everyone loves! Your meal sounds really delicious! Thank you for your positive feedback and review!
I was looking for your Broccoli Rice casserole with panko, and I can’t find it!! Do you remove it from your site? I am currently trying to piece it together from memory and panicking a little!
Sorry, I updated the recipe to be even easier and better (I think anyhow!), but here it the exact old version of the recipe: Broccoli Rice Casserole.
Great recipe!
I added impossible sausage and Le Sueur peas and it was outstanding!
Sounds delicious! I’m thrilled you loved the casserole! It sounds so good with the sausage addition! Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback!
Would it be possible to make this in a glass casserole dish in the oven? If so, can you make any recommendations for doing so? This looks soooooo delicious, but I want to take it to a picnic as a true casserole, baked in a casserole dish.
Yes, you can bake it in a lightly greased glass casserole dish using steamed broccoli and cooked rice. Saute the onion and chicken on the stove as normal, then stir in 2-3 cups of broth, coconut milk, rice, broccoli, and vegan cheese. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown. I hope this helps!
Does this mean I need to steamed broccoli and cook the rice first before stiring the broth, and the coconut milk?
Hi Gerilee. Add the rice, 3 cups of vegetable broth and coconut milk together. You can steam the broccoli ahead of time if you like it extra tender. Otherwise, you do not have to steam it first.
This was so good! I used your Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce, arborio rice, and LiteLife chicken patties (it’s what I had on hand). It was wonderfully creamy and delicious. My husband absolutely loved it as well. Thank you, Nora!
Hi Shelly. Your casserole sounds really delicious! Thanks for sharing your great feedback and ideas! I’ so happy you guys loved the recipe!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was yummy. It came together quickly with pantry staples. I’ll be adding this to my regular rotation. Thanks for another great recipe, Nora!
Hi Coretta. I’m so happy you loved this and that it will become part of your meal rotation! Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback! Happy cooking!
Made this tonight and it’s a hit with everyone. I used Nutritional Yeast instead of vegan cheese, since I try to minimize processed stuff with additives. However, my son is still a partial carnivore, so I did add some sliced vegan tofurkey Italian sausages for him and they did add a very nice flavor. I made this by the recipe, and did end up using the extra cup of broth at the end to make it creamier (I think the tofurkey probably absorbed some of the moisture at the end). Now that I’ve made it to spec, I do plan to experiment with some other veggies in future, knowing they will be just as YUM as with the broccoli. Thanks, Nora for such a great weeknight recipe! This was soooo easy to throw together after work 🙂
Hi Elisa. Thank you for your wonderful feedback, and for sharing your additions and ideas! This is recipe that can be versatile to suit individual tastes! I’m glad it was a hit with your family! Happy cooking to you!
This was soooo good! used what I had on hand: can of chickpeas (out of soy curls), lite cocount milk, violife mozzarella shreds plus a few TB of nooch. Friend had given me some Jyoti rice and it was really, really good in this. Leftovers are fantastic, too. Thank you for the easy and delicious new dinner (or side!). It will be a regular at our table.
You are welcome, Jenny! I’m so glad that you loved the casserole! I agree the leftovers are so good! Thanks for your wonderful feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Nora you are amazing! I do NOT like coconut flavor in my foods, but since I totally trust you, I gave it a try. OMG so glad I did. We absolutely loved it!
Wouldn’t change a thing (which I never do with any of your recipes). My family grew up always eating cheesy potatoes on Easter… not this year… we are replacing it with this one! Thank you!
I’m so glad you love the casserole! Thanks for using my recipe, and for sharing your review and feedback! Happy cooking!
Thank you for this recipe! I really enjoyed it, and so did my family. I made a few adjustments based on what I had on hand… I only had a small can of coconut cream, so I mixed it with almond milk until I had the correct amount. I also had Better Than Boullion roasted garlic, so I used 2 cups of that and 2 cups of Better Than Boullion veggie for the broth. I also used half Violife mozzarella and half cheddar style shreds.
This will definitely go into our rotation! Perhaps next time, I will try topping with crispy fried onions… yum!
Hi Krystal. I’m so glad you loved the recipe and it’s going onto our meal rotation! Thank you for sharing your fantastic feedback and ideas!
Haven’t made this yet, but plan on it next week. Can you use frozen broccoli?
Yes, you can use frozen broccoli! The cooking time should remain about the same.
So good! Table full of omnivores all loving it. I was so glad I doubled the recipe! I used soy curls soaked in chicken broth, and subbed nooch for cheese.
I have so consistently pleased my heavily omnivore (meat eating) family with your recipes. It’s really exciting for me to change their minds, one meal at a time.
This is great to hear, Kristin! So glad you and your family loved this dish. Thanks for sharing such wonderful feedback!
Love this recipe and make it regularly. I find it super versatile to add mushrooms or whatever other veggies we want as well as the broccoli. I always use brown rice and as Nora suggested it takes the 4 cups of broth and closer to 40 minutes.
Sometimes we forgo the cheese and add soy sauce and other flavors and it is just as good!
It’s better with Nora’s chicken, but I usually end up using sausage because it’s what we have on hand. I fry the sausage/ chicken first and add it when I add the broccoli.
Thank you for sharing your great review and comments! I am so glad you are loving the casserole!
Used lite coconut cream, and cheated with a tiny bit of agar agar to thicken. Just a TINY bit. Everything else as listed. Super yummy and filling. Another fantastic recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the casserole! I appreciate you taking your time to share your review and comments! Thank you for using my recipes!
If you do use light coconut milk, what might the outcome be if that is the only substitution I make in the recipe? Thank you in advance.
It will be fine, just a little less rich. Enjoy!
Can you use cubed seitan?
Yes you can.
Thank you. You rule!
So. Much. YUM!!
I used lite coconut milk, lots of nutritional yeast, umami seasoning, a bit of thyme and paprika. For cheese, I relied on the nooch to bring it home (to save calories) but still added 2 slices of miyokos pepper jack.
I also tossed in mushrooms, a little diced carrot & some peas.
All this food just for little ‘ol me – I’ll be eating this all week and I ain’t mad! Thank you for another winner!
Your casserole sounds delicious! I’m really glad you are enjoying the recipe! Thank you for taking your time to share your great review and comments!
May I ask what Nooch is? Thanks
Nutritional Yeast! 🙂
Hope you’re well Michelle, my name is Michelle also! Those additions that you added sound Phenomenally Delish! Sharing is caring! 🤣
Just made this and oh my god why is it the best casserole I’ve ever tasted.
I used 365 coconut milk, 365 vegan cheddar, added leftover regular mozzarella (sowwy I know, ew), and Sweet Earth veggie chicken.
Thank you for sharing your review! I’m glad you loved the casserole!
This was delicious!!!
My husband loved it! I did use lite coconut milk and 4 cups of broth with brown rice. It did take a little longer to cook, but just as tasty!! Thank you so much for a great recipe! Will definitely be making this again!
I’m so glad you loved the casserole, Genevieve! Thank you for sharing your comments!
Made this for dinner tonight & we both loved it. I’ll definitely be making this again. Thank you for posting!
Thank you, Donna, for taking time to share your review. I’m glad you loved the casserole! Thank you!
My family loved it! Added vegan chicken bouillon cube, pepper jack cheese and chicken seasoning. Thank you for this recipe.
I’m so glad your family loved the casserole, Valarie! Thank you for sharing!
Can I is cauliflower rice
Instead
I’ve never tried it, but possibly.
It was excellent. I used Jasmine rice and garlic, parsley salt with no breadcrumbs. I used half pepper jack and half cheddar. My wife loved it and so did my son.
I’m glad that you and your family enjoyed the recipe! Thank you, Terrence.
the recipe blew me away!!! I was hesitant with the coconut milk and didn’t want the taste to stick out, but the result was just light cheesy perfection. super cheap and easy. I used coconut cream to make it creamier, added a little dijon mustard, a BUNCH of nutritional yeast, and threw in some mushrooms. I’ve been eating it for every meal. good reheated with frank’s red hot 🙂
Ooooo… I think if I make this, I’ll be using all of those extra substitutions! I need a LOT of flavour in my food, but I’ve been trying to balance quick and easy with flavourful and filling.
This was so good! Exactly the comfort food I was craving. Next time I’ll add seasoning to the rice as it cooks but otherwise follow the instructions exactly. I used soy curls as the “meat” and it was perfect. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Very tasty! The only thing I would do differently is add the browned seitan with the broccoli . I like my seitan on the chewy side. Easy and delicious!